New Jersey Institute for Social Justice

Throughout history, Black people in NJ frequently occupied a “shadow” status of citizenship, with their political rights varyingly enforced, ignored or stripped.

What is the value of a single vote? And what is now owed from its denial?

Join us and share your thoughts!

http://bit.ly/NJRCSession6

Congratulations to our incredible leaders, Institute President & CEO Ryan Haygood and Law & Policy Director Henal Patel on being named to Insider NJ’s list of top 100 Policy Makers in New Jersey.

Last night, we heard the Vice-President speak about the importance of the Voting Rights Act - and we couldn't agree more.

But New Jersey doesn't need to wait for Washington, D.C. We have our own Voting Rights Act legislation ready to go.

Mark your calendars for the social justice event of the year!

Please join us on Oct. 30 at 6 p.m. at NJPAC as we celebrate our successes and double down on the work ahead for the next 25 years and beyond.

Tickets coming soon!

http://njisj.org/gala2024

We’re in Trenton today for a very special announcement from .

Tune in: youtube.com/live/N6VWqX3Lk…

Last week, our Associate Counsel Micauri Vargas and our Trustee Rev. Timothy Adkins-Jones co-led a workshop on our advocacy at the Children’s Defense Fund’s Freedom School Program at its historic Alex Haley Farm in Tennessee!

An inspiring trip that reminds us that the future of democracy lies within our future - our youth!

Yannick Wood of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice said he was encouraged by the fact that the AG’s Office started the process for launching the pilot programs by taking applications for the funding in May.

“There’s no time to lose here,” Wood said. “The longer this takes to roll out the longer we continue to have the same status quo, and that’s a status quo in which a person in crisis gets a police response instead of mental health response.”

NJ law to fix crisis response was signed six months ago. It's still not implemented The law created an advisory council to establish best practices for handling responses to people in a mental health crisis. It has yet to meet.

At a time when Jim Crow-like voter suppression is spreading around the country and the Supreme Court is weakening federal voter protections, a strong Voting Rights Act in New Jersey will protect the fundamental right to vote, especially for Black and other voters of color who are more likely to experience voter suppression and discrimination at the polls.

Join us for a crucial conversation about the future of democracy.

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_V4xWAZ7mTXy_MXLCKWaM5Q #/registration

The court ordered important changes that may impact audits of how Newark Police Department engages with the community.

Tonight, the Institute co-hosted a public forum to update the community on those changes and what it means going forward.

We’ll be live right here on Facebook soon for this very important Community Forum!

Critical changes may be coming to Newark Police’s Consent Decree, the agreement between the police department and the Department of Justice to develop policies to address racially biased policing.

The court ordered important changes that may impact audits of how Newark engages with the community. Including the community in policing policies and implementation is critical for creating true public safety.

In light of this news, it’s more important than ever that we hear from you about your views on policing in Newark.

Although Black students constitute only 15.5% of the state’s student population, they account for 29.8% of referrals from schools to law enforcement, and 28.9% of arrests in schools, according to the Department of Education.

Black and Hispanic students were disproportionately suspended, N.J. report shows Although Black students constitute only 15.5% of the state’s student population, they account for 29.8% of referrals from schools to law enforcement, and 28.9% of arrests in schools.

It takes one look at Washington, D.C. to know it.

We cannot rely on Washington, D.C. to protect New Jersey’s democracy.

New Jersey’s legislature must adopt its own state Voting Rights Act and protect voters, especially voters of color.

Pass S2997/A4552 now!

https://njvra.org/

NEWARK – The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, Fair Share Housing Center, New Jersey Citizen Action and the Housing Community Development Network of New Jersey (the “Social Justice Advocates”) today praised the passage of a bill aimed at eliminating discrimination in home appraisals.

After previous passage in the Senate, the Assembly voted today in favor of S1311/A2280, which codifies prohibition of discriminatory practices in real estate appraisals in New Jersey and requires appraisers to complete anti-bias training

Discrimination in housing appraisals strips wealth from Black communities and other communities of color who have historically been denied the same lending opportunities, public subsidies and other supports that white communities have used to build wealth through homeownership. With homeownership being the primary driver of wealth, this kind of discrimination in housing contributes directly to New Jersey’s huge racial wealth gap: a $300,000 disparity in the median wealth between Black and white households.

The bill now goes to Gov. Murphy for his signature.

Below are statements from the Social Justice Advocates:

“Black families in New Jersey already face far too many barriers to acquiring generation wealth – they should not have to fear that their homes will be appraised at substantially lower values than if a white family stood in for the appraisal,” said Laura Sullivan, Director of the Economic Justice Program at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. “This legislation goes a long way in ensuring that the appraisal process is fair by providing necessary tools to tackle discrimination. We appreciate the work of Sen. Nellie Pou and Asw. Yvonne Lopez in making this a reality.”

“Holding appraisers accountable for discrimination is one of the ways we must address New Jersey’s racial wealth gap,” said Alex Staropoli, Managing Director of External Affairs at Fair Share Housing Center. “For most homeowners, their house is their most valuable asset. Appraisal bias has been robbing Black families of hard-won equity for decades — this is an important step toward repairing those multi-generational harms.”

“We applaud state lawmakers for passing legislation that gives New Jersey authorities more enforcement tools to hold appraisers accountable when they are guilty of discrimination.” said Beverly Brown Ruggia, New Jersey Citizen Action Financial Justice Program Director. “Appraisal discrimination is a modern day form of redlining that perpetuates the staggering racial gap in median wealth between Black and White families in the state of over $300,000 and hurts property values for entire communities. The legislation will help ensure that homes in communities of color are properly valued and that all homeowners will have access to the historically proven pathway to generational wealth.”

“Homeownership is the single, most direct way families and individuals can create and maintain wealth,” said Staci Berger, President and CEO, Housing Community Development Network of NJ. “With this bill and with the governor’s signature, we have an unprecedented opportunity to address NJ’s radical wealth gap, which is the widest in our country. We applaud the sponsors and leadership for moving this bill forward and to help mitigate and undo systemic and institutional racism, which prevents Black and Brown families from achieving the same benefits of homeownership, including growing and passing on generational wealth.”

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Critical changes may be coming to Newark Police’s Consent Decree, the agreement between the police department and the Department of Justice to develop policies to address racially biased policing.

The court ordered important changes that may impact audits of how Newark engages with the community. Including the community in policing policies and implementation is critical for creating true public safety.

In light of this news, it’s more important than ever that we hear from you about your views on policing in Newark.

We're still riding high from our fascinating and ultimately inspiring conversation with the New Jersey Reparations Council last evening at NJPAC.

As Professor Leslie Alexander explained during one panel last night - reparations for slavery isn't unheard of in New Jersey.

After all, the state paid reparations to the enslavers of Black people.

We’re live this Juneteenth at NJPAC discussing the work of the New Jersey Reparations Council with award-winning journalist Jelani Cobb.

In Burlington County, there once was a beacon of Black excellence – a school that produced doctors, lawyers and skilled tradespeople, a campus that was visited by luminaries like Booker T. Washington and Paul Robeson.

What stands there today, at the very place where we once invested in Black youth, is the place where we now incarcerate them. Where we once saw promise, we now see prisons.

We have a better vision.

In our newly released report, From Shackles to Scholarship: A Vision for a 21st Century Bordentown School, we urge New Jersey to close its three youth prions, reinvest in community-based programs and establish a 21st Century version of the illustrious Bordentown School.

The Bordentown School, formally the Manual and Industrial Training School, was founded by formerly enslaved Civil War veteran Rev. Walter Rice in 1866 as the “Tuskegee of the North.” Before its closure in 1955, it developed a sterling reputation for preparing Black students for a lifetime of leadership through vocational training and academic studies.

But in 1997, in a tragic twist, the campus was repurposed as a site for the Hayes girls youth prison and the Juvenile Medium Security Facility for youth.

Our report, From Shackles to Scholarship: A Vision for a 21st Century Bordentown School, documents the history and impact of the Bordentown School and builds the case for returning Hayes youth prison back to a center for learning and excellence that would serve the community and support our young people – the embodiment of a prison-to-school pipeline.

New Jersey has a hopeful opportunity before us. We should seize it.

https://njisj.org/reports/shacklestoscholarship/

It's been a little over five months since Newark boldly voted in favor of lowering the voting age to 16 for school board elections.

It's time for the state to follow Newark's example.

Let 16-Year-Olds Vote in School Board Elections!

We’re less than a week away! Register now.

The Promise of Juneteenth: New Jersey Reparations Council Year One Buy tickets to at NJPAC. Located in Newark, NJPAC is New Jersey's leading performing arts center.

“When I first heard of Jim Lawson, this young black Methodist minister, preaching and teaching the philosophy of love and action, nonviolence, passive resistance, soul force — I knew this was for me,” John Lewis said. “I knew this was the way out.”

The Rev. James Lawson, key architect of the Civil Rights Movement, dies at 95 Martin Luther King Jr. called civil rights pioneer, the Rev. James Lawson, the leading theorist and strategist of nonviolence.

Our Senior Counsel Jean-Pierre Brutus is in Trenton today alongside the NJ Faith Allies to call for a state Reparations Task Force to study the enduring harm of slavery in New Jersey.

We are so excited to announce that Tanuja Dehne has joined our Board of Trustees!

Over the last five years, while she led the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation Tanuja has been a steadfast champion for the Institute.

We are thrilled to have her join our powerful Board.